Don’t you love it when you decide on what to make for dinner and you just so happen to have everything you need right in your very own kitchen? It’s rare, but it happened to me when I had a craving for chicken pot pie.
I started rummaging through my fridge, pantry, and freezer, and was amazed to find that I could pull this together without even running to the store. I found puff pastry leftover from my Peach Tarts, heavy cream from my Salted Caramel Oat Bars, and fresh thyme from my Slow Cooker Pot Roast.
Unheard of!
My Walmart lady and I are so tight, she whispers price matches to me when I forget to check the ads. She thinks my boys are cute and “so well-behaved”, which makes me wonder what kid-shenanigens she witnesses on a daily basis. Because my boys are sweet, but we have our moments.
Like the time I was trying to decide whether I should buy regular or center cut bacon, and I looked down to see my three-year-old poking holes with his finger into the Saran wrapped raw ground beef!
Being a mom is exceedingly and abundantly a very humbling experience.
And that’s why I’m so thrilled when I can make dinner with what I already have. What I love about this recipe, is that it offers three shortcuts to make things easier.
First of all, I used puff pastry instead of making pie crust. Second, I used a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store instead of cooking my own. And lastly, I used a chicken base called “Better Than Bullion” instead of homemade or canned chicken stock. So very handy to have in the fridge all ready to go.
This Chicken Pot Pie has become one of my most popular recipes, and I think my mom is it’s number one fan! She makes this recipe a lot when she has company over. It pairs really well with a nice green salad, and that fancy lattice crust makes dinner guests feel extra special.
Don’t worry if you’ve never made one before, it’s really not too difficult. Make sure you are working with very cold strips of puff pastry. If they get too warm and soft they will be harder to work with, so you can pop them back into the freezer for a few minutes if needed.
This is the best lattice crust tutorial I’ve ever seen, and it’s super helpful to have that visual if you’ve never made one before.
Once you give this a try, you’ll be so happy to have it in your recipe box! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: the links in this post for the Better than Bullion chicken base are Amazon affiliate links.
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Chicken Pot Pie
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
My favorite chicken pot pie recipe with three easy shortcuts to make dinner prep simple.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped carrot
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon “Better Than Bullion” chicken base
- 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish if desired
- 1 egg, beaten slightly with a fork
Instructions
- Allow puff pastry to thaw at room temperature and then gently unfold.
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium high heat.
- Add onion, celery, carrot, and salt and sauté until onions are translucent and vegetables start to get tender.
- Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in milk, heavy cream and and Better Than Bullion, and bring to a slow boil.
- Simmer gently over medium heat until sauce begins to thicken (5 minutes).
- Turn heat to low, and add chicken, peas and thyme.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pour chicken mixture into a 9 x 9 baking dish.
- Cut puff pastry into 12 equal strips, using fold lines as a guide.
- Lay puff pastry strips over chicken mixture, weaving it together to form a lattice pattern.
- Using a pastry brush, brush egg onto the top of the puff pastry.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. The top of the puff pastry will be a deep golden brown color.
- Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 732
- Sugar: 4.3g
- Sodium: 583mg
- Fat: 52g
- Saturated Fat: 21g
- Unsaturated Fat: 27g
- Trans Fat: 0.8g
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 29g
- Cholesterol: 186mg
Traci Alves says
Hi Julie,
I just assembled my chicken pot pie and it looks great! I can’t wait to bake it later tonight and get a taste of it. It tasted wonderful from what I tried in the pot, Thank you of such an easy recipe. I am going to leave the brushing of the egg until the minute I put it in the oven.
Hilary says
I love this recipe! I have made it several times and it is always a hit. I saw some people mention a bottom crust, which I love as well. The first time I made it, the bottom crust was soggy and doughy and not great. So the second time I partially baked the bottom puff pastry before adding the filling and it turned out really good.
Julie says
Thanks Hilary! Good to know.
Ashley says
How long did you pre bake the bottom crust? I made this last night and we loved it, my fiance just asked if there was a way to have more crust so next time I want to try with the crust on the bottom. Thanks!!
Margot says
It almost unreal that to wove pastry strips on the hot chicken mixture. I tried it and it was a mess! It seemed that the mixture needed to be harden in a fridge before waving the pastry strips.
Julie says
Hi Margot, maybe you could let it cool, or you could also do the weaving on a solid work surface and then carefully transfer it to the top of the chicken mixture as one whole piece and trim as needed. Hope this helps!
LiNdsay says
This Did not turn out well for me for some reason. I used an 8×8 square pan because it’s all I haD so I’m not sure if that was the reason. The inside of the pot pie boiled over top of the pie Crust :/ it was a disaster
Julie says
I’m sorry to hear that Lindsay. You might try making a half recipe if you need to use an 8 by 8 inch baking dish.
L says
I made this tonight for the family. It was easy to do. The only problem we had was lack of flavor. Will try steeping some thyme in the milk cream mixture to see if that adds to it. My son wants me to try mushrooms.
Still have hope for me flavor. Will definitely try again.
Stacey says
I am a HUGE Chicken Pot PIe fan and this is absolutely the VERY BEST recipe I have ever tried! I did add potatoes – took one small baking potato, cubed it, precooked it in the microwave, then added it with the peas. Even my husband LOVED it and he has never been a pot pie fan. When i asked what he thought he said, ” Honestly, I could probably eat this every week!” I sent a pic to my younger son in college and he immediately asked if I would make him one to take back to school! Simply delicious!!! Thanks so much for posting it!
Julie says
Oh Stacey, you just made my day! Thank you so much for your kind words, and I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. I’m adding potato next time!
Kathy says
The first time I made this recipe, I didn’t have half and half, so I googled substitutes :). Cream cheese! Wow, what flavor. My husband requests this every week, but I have to hold him to twice a month. We’ve served to company and everyone raves about it. The casserole I used tonight was a bit small, so I also used a small individual pie pan. So cute. We ate the pie pan and I plan to try freezing the big one. Hope it doesn’t get too soggy when we recook it. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe.
Julie says
You are so welcome Kathy. I love the idea of making it in little individual pie pans!
Sunny Drohan says
This may be a silly question, but going to ask it anyway. Which way do y ou cut the strips of puff pastry. Long way or the short way? If the short way, maybe not enough or long way too long and then cut?
Some one ask about the curdling. That has happened to me when making scallop potatoes. Still tastes great though. I think you mentioned fat content. That may be it. Because I think I made it with low fat milk.
Julie says
Hi Sunny, thanks for your question! I cut the puff pastry in the direction that gives me the longest strips. Trim the ends to fit if needed. Hope you love it!
Nikkola says
Thanks so much for this recipe! I made this last night and added mushrooms while cooking the onions, carrots, and celery. It came out so delicious that I made it again tonight!!!
Julie says
I’m so glad Nikkola, thanks for letting me know!
Dina Gharbo says
This was DIVINE. Made it tonight and it was absolutely beautiful. Even my very critical hubby said it was “photo worthy” and the taste was just as good :D. Definitely adding this to our regular recipes.
Julie says
So glad you all enjoyed it Dina!
Jeanne says
This may be a silly question, but I have never heard of puff pasta. Could you tell me what it is and where I can find it?
Julie says
Great question! Puff pastry is in the frozen section of the grocery store, usually by the frozen desserts. It comes as a flat, frozen piece of dough, but when you bake it becomes very buttery and flakey.
Heather says
I want to use the chicken base. But my stomach can’t handle a lot of cream and milk. Do you think I could do one cup of milk and I cup chicken broth. And keep the chicken base and heavy cream?
Julie says
Heather, I’m not sure how that will turn out because I haven’t tried it, but you could give it a go and see what happens. It may just be little thinner.
Sarah says
I’m planning on making this chicken pot pie tonight! Thank your for the recipe 🙂 What method would you suggest for cooking the chicken beforehand?
Julie says
I use a rotisserie chicken from the deli at the grocery store. My mom likes to cook a whole chicken in the crockpot. You could also just roast a whole chicken, or bone-in breasts in the oven.
Britanie says
Thank you for this recipe! I’m usually a food blog creeper, and never take the time to post comments. But I must say: the pot pie was ~ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS~, the best I’ve ever tasted and SO much easier and quicker to prepare than I expected—which is important given our family’s busy schedule. I served it at a get-together and there were no leftovers. It fed 5! I had no issues with spillover or placing the pastry on top. This meal is definitely going on rotation for us.
Julie says
Thanks for the great feedback Britanie! I’m so glad everyone loved it!
Jules says
Hi Julie!
I made this tonight- delicious!!(I used leftover turkey from Thabksgiving!) My only question, my braded puff pastry didn’t puff up or get crispy. Do you have any tips not sure what I did wrong. It seems like, because was resting on the pot pie liquid it stayed limp. Has this happened to you? Looking forward to making again!
Julie says
Hi Jules! I’m glad you liked it, and great idea to use turkey. I know what you mean about the top not puffing up as much – I think it is because of the creamy layer below. I think it helps a little to make sure your oven rack is a little higher than center.
Nicole says
After making the lattice puff pastry, I popped it in the freezer for a bit to let it harden. This made it pretty easy to move onto the chicken mixture without making a mess
Calvin Shatto says
The recipe was spot on,I just have trouble making the lattice. I also used the same recipe to make a beef pie, just changed the chicken bullion to beef bullion and the chicken to a flank steak.
Thank you for sharing. Have a great and saved holiday
Julie says
I’m glad you enjoyed Calvin! I’ll have to try your version soon!
Ash says
I’ve just finished making this recipe. It tastes great however my milk seperated or curdled! Do you know why this would have happened? It came cold from the fridge and so did the cream.
Thanks!
Julie says
That happened once when I was trying to make scalloped potatoes and I couldn’t figure out why. I’m glad it still tasted good. I read up about it a little and it seems like it has to do with the fat content in the milk/cream – that if there’s not enough it can curdle.
Kimberly says
Hi Just wondering if there is a puff pastry brand you prefer?
Many thanks!
Julie says
I have only used Pepperidge Farm, but I have also heard good things about Trader Joe’s brand.
Misty says
Can i add some piece of potatoes in this recipe? Would I need to add extra time to the cooking?
Julie says
I think potatoes would be great. If they are fairly small pieces, I think you could keep the cooking time the same. Enjoy!